ROTK 8 allows you to play as anyone you want, in any role. It's very refreshing. To me, the most fun is had starting as a free agent and picking your liege, then working your way from being an unknown to your leader's right hand.Developing your character is also very satisfying. Unlike other ROTK games, you only have so many points to spend in character development, so you can't just make a perfect god like character from the beginning. You have to train yourself and figure out how to learn new abilities as you play, building your character from a novice in your craft (be it war or political intrigue) to a master.Another rewarding aspect of the game is that if you make multiple characters, they will become NPC's if you don't use them. My first character was a master of War (obviously names Chuck Norris), and I had a great campaign playing as him. Months later I played through as a diplomat, and lo, here comes Chuck Norris working for Cao Cao to wipe my kingdom out!I can't stress enough how great this game is if you like games that focus on both tactics and strategy. Personally I still think ROTK8 is at the head of the genre.